Are You Washed?

Doesn't it make you feel good to finish a task that you've worked long and hard at?  The more blood, sweat and tears put into something, the greater the feeling of accomplishment when it is completed.  It feels so good to be able to say, "It's finished!"

One of the greatest recorded sayings of "It is finished" is found in the Gospel of John chapter 19
and verse 30.

"When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished:  and He bowed His head, and gave up the ghost."

What was Jesus referring to when He spoke these words, "It is finished?"  He was referring to the great plan of salvation that had been put into place back even before sin first entered into this world in the Garden of Eden through Adam. 

Our wonderful Lord Jesus was the perfect Lamb of God that was slain, the only One whose shed blood could take away the sin of the world through repentance and faith in Him.

John 1:29  "The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold, the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world."

1 Peter 1:18 - 20  "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible
things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your
fathers;  but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot:  who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest
in these last times for you."

Isaiah 53:5 - 7  "But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities:  the chastisement of our peace was upon Him;  and with His stripes we are
healed. All we like sheep have gone astray;  we have turned every one to his own way; 
and the LORD hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.  He was oppressed, and He was
afflicted, yet He opened not His mouth;  He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and
as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth."

Oh the depth of love that the Lord Jesus had for us, in order to willingly give up His life and shed
His precious blood for the payment of our iniquities.  We will never understand the magnitude of
His sacrifice until we get to Heaven. 

On this Thanksgiving Day, I just wanted to turn our attention to the One we owe the most thanks
too, our wonderful Savior.  If we are saved today, we have been washed in the soul cleansing
blood of the Lamb, and we, through His blood now stand spotless before God, our sins that once separated us from God, now washed away with the blood of His precious Son.

Isaiah 1:18  "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD:  though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;  though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

We need to come humbly before the Lord and pray as David did in Psalm 51:1 & 2

"Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness:  according unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.  Wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin."

When God has clearly stated that "It is finished", the plan of salvation is in place, nothing more
need be done, why do people still attempt to add to it?  We are told in Romans 6:23, "For the
wages (price) of sin is death:  but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our
Lord."  When someone gives you a birthday gift, do you set it aside and go find a way to pay
for it?  No!  The giver would be insulted, their gift is just that...a gift, given with love.  All you
have to do is receive it with thanks.  God's gift of salvation is just that, a gift given in love;  we
just have to receive it humbly with repentance and thanksgiving.  Why is this so hard for people
to understand?  Jesus paid the price, there is nothing we need do.  How thankful we should be!

1 Corinthians 6:11b  "...But ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

Ephesians 1:7  "In Whom (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace:"

On this special day of families and turkeys, do not forget to give thanks for the most important blessing in our lives...our wonderful Savior and the precious gift of salvation, that has been bought with His shed blood, and that has been so freely offered to us.

Have you been to Jesus for the cleaning power?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Are you fully trusting in His grace this hour?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

 

Are you walking daily by the Savior's side?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Do you rest each moment in the Crucified?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

 

When the Bridegroom cometh will your robes be white?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

Will your soul be ready for the mansions bright,

And be washed in the blood of the Lamb?

 

Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,

And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;

There's a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,

O be washed in the blood of the Lamb!

 

Are you washed in the blood,

In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb?

Are your garments spotless?  Are they white as snow?

Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?

 

                                              Elisha A. Hoffman